The band was named after the Melvins song "Boris" on the "Bullhead" album. They started out as a 4-piece in 1992 but became a 3-piece after Nagata left the band in 1996.

They are known to regularly switch musical genres between albums, drawing influence from a huge variety of styles including psychedelic rock, punk, sludge, doom metal, drone, pop, noise, shoegaze and ambient.